INDIA: Television Station Outs "Deviant" Gay Men In Dating Site "Sting"

The Australian site SameSame reports that an Indian television has conducted a "sting" to out men using a gay dating site.

The report from news channel TV9 Telugu shows people searching through gay youths profiles on online dating/social networking website planetromeo.com. The men found on the website were labeled ‘deviants’ and photos of them, along with personal information such as names, were clearly displayed. Extremely private information about one user – including his penis size, fetishes, and his preferred sexual position – was shown in the report. The item continued with phone-call ‘gay-stings’ of two of the website’s users whose profiles and faces were also shown. During the calls an investigator posed as a planetromeo.com user and the men are covertly asked questions about their sexual lives and preferences. Homosexual activity in India, while legalised in 2009, still remains a cultural taboo within wider Indian society and government.

Outraged Indian activists have told the station that it will be held responsible for any reprisals or physical attacks made against the men it outed. The station has since removed the report from its official YouTube channel, but others have reposted the clip. An English translation of the video can be found at the above link.